a/n: had to re-edit because I forgot the AN for heaven's sake. Anyways, Enjoy the chapter!
And please review! Tell me what you think about it! Any inconsistencies or mistakes should be pointed out at once~!
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender
+Jones+
Jones and Katara had difficulty climbing down the stairs because the carpeted wood had been turned to black Swiss cheese. A large chunk of the bottom most steps had been blown away, leaving charred holes instead. Following Yumi's lead, they had no choice but to jump the last couple of steps to the floor.
As if the stairs hadn't been enough, Jones's jaws dropped of their own accord at the sight of the living room which no more resembled a human dwelling than an iguana would resemble a cheesecake. The walls had been severely pockmarked everywhere with bullet holes, and blood was splattered all the way up to the ceiling in some places. The sofa and armchair had been torn apart into chunks which coughed up stuffing when they were trod on.
And of course, there were the bodies. Jones tried not to feel queasy as a quick glance around the room registered at least half a dozen bodies slumped in various areas around the room. He thought he saw someone's legs sticking out of the fireplace but averted his gaze, afraid that he might throw up.
Looking straight ahead, he kept on walking, careful not to look down at the floor which was littered with so many pieces of drywall and little bits of furniture (not to mention all the bodies) that no one would ever have guessed that this had once been a quiet living room with few items just hours ago.
Yumi walked into the kitchen where the linoleum flooring was pooled with blood. The glass countertop had shattered into a million little pieces and was also coating the floor. As they walked, Jones tried not to think about it much as he stepped into the blood and he heard glass crunch beneath his shoes. The kitchen had a small door leading to the garage. Yumi pushed open the door, ignoring the bloody body which lay on its stomach just a few feet away in front of the refrigerator. A machine gun was still clutched tightly in his bloody fingers.
Jones looked back over his shoulder to make sure Katara was following them. She didn't look quite as sick as he felt but her eyes didn't stray toward the mess.
A few short steps led down to the garage which was mercifully devoid of dismembered limbs and blood. When Yumi flicked on the lights, a couple of bare bulbs hanging low from the ceiling illuminated two motorcycles standing up against the left wall. On the other side of the garage, shelves packed with toolboxes, cardboard boxes with spare parts and tanks of fuel lined the wall. It was quite the repair shop in Jones's opinion.
Yumi suddenly chucked something small at his face and Jones reflexes were as numbed as over so that it hit him on the shoulder and rebounded onto the floor. It was a key.
"There'll be an inbuilt navigation system which doubles as an extra security feature," Yumi explained as she rolled a motorcycle to the middle of the garage. "You'll have to disable it or else the automatic brakes will kick in."
She flung a leg of the side of the motorcycle and was sitting comfortably in it as though she rode motorcycles everyday which Jones was almost certain she did not. Not at work, anyways.
Jones walked over to the spare motorcycle and found that it was a rather old model of the DirtWheelie VX-2300 which had been quite popular a couple years ago. Not that Jones was an expert on any of this. He had just heard a lot about them when Georgina was dating a professional motorcycle racer last year and was always littering the office with her weekly subscriptions to the Hot RIDES magazine.
Jones disabled the navigation system as Yumi had instructed and turned the ignition on. The motocycle came to life with a loud roar. Yumi was already wearing her helmet and was just adjusted the clasp. He motioned for a curious Katara to get on the back, handing her a spare helmet before he put on his own.
The garage door rolled open and Yumi was the first to zoom out of the garage. She seemed quite at home on the motorcycle even if it was borrowed. Or, Jones thought as he struggled to follow her down the road for she was riding far faster than he was, it was her own bike.
+Avatar World+
Iroh, Hakoda, Suki, and Toph were sitting at the dining table. Mai had not joined them, pleading exhaustion. They had just finished eating (though none of them seemed to have had an appetite) and the dishes had just been cleared. Iroh cleared his voice before suggesting that they all share information of the last 24 hours and compare notes in an attempt to figure out the best solution as to what to do next.
When everyone had recounted their stories in the utmost detail with Hakoda taking quick notes, all fell into a deep thoughtful silence until Toph spoke up.
"Well, we definitely know for sure now that Aunt Wu wasn't just pulling our leg. She was telling the truth about Aang being in danger. That's why Ozai felt threatened and decided to get rid of her."
A few nodded in agreement.
Hakoda interjected, "But how could he have known about this? Of course, Ozai did hint that he had had help in reaching Aunt Wu's place. I reckon that the same person was able to help him and his daughter to break out but how could Ozai have possibly figured out about the message she sent us?"
"Maybe the message was intercepted?" Suki suggested.
"Then why not take the message and destroy it?" Hakoda said. "Why go to all the trouble of going to Aunt Wu's house, finding her and then murdering her if he could've just torn the message to pieces and not letting us get the message in the first place?"
"There could be any number of reasons." Iroh mused. "He might not have been able to take the message for himself to destroy. If, of course, we are right in assuming that that is the reason he killed her. We cannot be sure."
"Look, just forget about Ozai for a minute okay?" Toph said impatiently. "The important thing is that Aunt Wu was telling the truth or what she thought was the truth. All that stuff she said about her dream is obviously real. So what we need to focus on right now is how we're going to stop Death winning."
"Death?" Iroh and Suki said in bemusement.
"That's what it said in the letter." Toph explained. "Remember what the letter said? Death, who is surrounded by water, which perhaps suggests that it is unable to move, tries to eliminate the star indirectly by the use of the flame."
Hakoda looked quite startled and impressed at the same time. "How did you remember all that?" he asked in amazement. "I know I read the message a couple of times but I can barely remember it in detail."
"Oh, it's not that hard." Toph said airily. "Especially since Katara was reading it out loud over and over on our way over here to get Zuko."
A short, awkward silence followed which was mercifully broken by Iroh clearing his throat.
"That is another problem." Iroh said quietly. "We need to figure out where those two have disappeared to and make sure they return at once." He placed Katara's waterskin on the table in front of him. "This proves of their survival." He didn't mention that the possibilities were quite long and that this had no way of proving Zuko's survival.
"We know where they disappeared. Just not where to." Suki reminded them glumly.
"Toph, you were there when it all happened." Hakoda said gently. "Could you tell us again what exactly happened?"
Toph had, in fact, recounted that part a couple times to everyone sitting at the table but she still had not voiced the suspicions Sokka had had at the time. She was entirely sure she should repeat his words when Sokka was still recovering from his burns in a bed elsewhere.
"Apart from what I've already said," Toph said slowly, "there is something that Sokka did say something..."
Though Toph couldn't see them, she distinctly felt all eyes turning to look her straight in the face. She almost blushed with the sudden amount of attention but stood her ground quite firmly and continued, "Sokka said that thought he'd seen a flash of light before the lava came down on them. He thought this might mean that maybe they'd survived." And before she could help herself she added, "And I believe him."
+Katara+
There were no words to describe how horrible Katara was feeling. In the last 24 hours, the most horrible things had happened. Starting with the disappearance of Zuko, things had really taken a turn when she had been ambushed outside on the parking lot and then had been saved by Ethan and Yumi. Of course, things hadn't gone all that well with them either since they had entered Raul's house. The house was probably ashes now. She hadn't realized it at the time but Yumi had evidently placed a bomb in the house before their departure. Katara had heard the unmistakable sound of it being detonated when they had put some space between them and the residence. The police would probably never figure out what had happened. Not in time anyway. They were moving too fast.
That was another thing. Why was it that all manner of transportation had to be so reckless and fast in this place? Of course, she had travelled quite a distance on her travels with Aang and the gang on Appa before but this was totally ridiculous. There she was clinging to the back of Ethan as though her life depended on it as they practically flew over the roads on the tiny motorcycle.
They were now cruising down an empty road. They still had about an hour until sunrise and yet she felt the night would never end. What a nightmare! The scenery beside her was indistinguishable as the sheer speed of the motorcycle was causing everything to blend into a nauseating blur of color and sound. She thought she might throw up if she wasn't so scared.
As though Ethan had read her mind, the motorcycle decreased its speed rather rapidly until they were lazily strolling along at a snail's pace until they came to a stop altogether at the side of the road. Yumi zoomed on ahead of them until she realized they were no longer following. By the time she zoomed back to where they were, Katara had already slid off the seat, staggering around and sucking in deep breaths, willing herself not to hurl.
"We don't have time to stop." Yumi was telling Ethan. Katara had her back turned to them, afraid they would be shocked at the state of her with her windblown hair in quite a state, not to mention how green she must look.
"We're not going anywhere with you." Ethan snapped back. Even as she doubled over to vomit, Katara was a little surprised at Ethan's anger.
"Jones, stop being an idiot at get back on the fucking bike."
Thank god the air was fairly moist. It took only a few seconds to collect a blob of water in front of her to wash out her mouth and douse her face. God that felt good. Behind them, she could vaguely make out the tension rising in Ethan's voice.
"Fuck you!" Jones spat at Yumi. "Those crazy bastards were after you and you know it! It was your old crash pad, your old gang and your old fucking life! We're as good as dead with you around!"
There was a silence. Katara had finished washing out her mouth but didn't get up from her kneeling position and turn around. She just listened.
"You're right." Yumi said finally. She said it so calmly it seemed for a split second as though she were joking. "You are as good as dead with me around. But I guarantee you will be if you don't come with me now."
Ethan laughed derisively as though he thought this a very clever joke. "You're out of your fucking mind." He snapped back.
"I must be," Yumi replied coolly and Katara found it in her to straighten up and turn around. Yumi was putting her helmet back on. "Because I'm going to make a deal with you."
"A deal?" Ethan echoed incredulously.
"Yes. As much as I'm going to regret this I'm going to give you a choice. If you and Katara come with me and stick with me until I say the word, I'll give you what you want most."
"And what would that be?"
"Answers." Yumi said simply. She got back onto her motorcycle. "Whatever you ask, I'll answer as best as I know. But only in private."
Katara, standing just feet behind Jones, knew that he would accept even before he had made up his mind. A few minutes later, they were cruising along the road again but this time, it was a different sickness that Katara felt.